THE RIDERS WHO ROUND US OUT
We had two departures over the transfer season. Victor Grue Enggaard will only be missing for a year, as he finalises his development in the Continental Tour with new outfit Karthago. Yesid Albeiro Pira, on the other hand, has found himself a permanent new home with Tafjord Kraft.
The disappearance of the Colombian is part of a acknowledgement that the team has failed to consistently challenge in mountainous stage races since Tim Wellens defeated Aleksandr Pluchkin in the 2021 Tour d'Andorra. That is why offers for Tobias Halland Johannessen were entertained this year; and also why one will most likely be accepted come next year.
 Ilham Sultansyah HEFNAR | 24 | £50.000 | Level 4.53 | FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 68 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 75 | 59 | 69 | 69 | 72 | 66 | 72 | | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | ⇊ | | 68 | 76 | 74 | 72 | 70 | 76 | 75 | 76 | 59 | 69 | 69 | 72 | 66 | 73 |
Best I can tell, Ilham Sultansyah Hefnar has spent the first two years of his career riding for Indosat Ooredoo. He came to us by way of Tafjord Kraft, exchanged alongside £100.000 for Pira. I think we did quite well from this trade. Hefnar reminds me of Antonio Pedrero; who won a stage of the Volta a Catalunya before securing a GC Top 10 for us at the 2023 Tour of Eritrea. Our new Indonesian has the better part of a decade to achieve something similar.
 Joshua TARLING | 22 | £320.000 | On Loan | FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 72 | 68 | 68 | 67 | 71 | 69 | 65 | 61 | 70 | 70 | 63 | 67 | 70 | 68 |
Symmetry appears to have been the name of the game this transfer window. One out permanently, one in permanently. One out temporarily, one in temporarily as Joshua Tarling joins us on loan from Bolt - Eesti. I am not showing you how this talented youngster might develop, because then everyone will be upset that we failed to sign him ourselves. He should be capable of aiding us across a variety of terrains this season, as he gains valuable experience riding as a domestique.
Heine: Morgado is great [...] we want the Morgado-Pidcock battles!
Sadly there would only be a year or two of cross-over with Pidcock, but perhaps it would be good to have a bit of a passing of the reins between the two. Bushwackers: Congrats [...] I hope you keep an open mind for a potential trade offer next season...
I am always sorry when I crush others' dreams in free agency, but can't be upset to have scored a talent that was on many managers' radars. Stage Race could be good, although I will already have Sheehan occupying that same niche. As to trade offers – my inbox is always open. baseballlover312: Very exciting rider! Might be that a combination of different paths ultimately makes the most sense.
That is the way my thinking is trending the more time I spend staring at development options. The question though, is which combination and for what reasons. jandal7: Wonder if this can be the guy who goes down the path I didn't end up doing with Pidcock and chasing all five monuments? Whatever way you choose (and I definitely have my opinions) he'll be an awesome rider, enjoy him.
Share your opinions, I beg of you! My main concern is that the Classics route probably won't be strong enough to take out LBL and Lombardia without some HL training and definitely won't be strong enough for RVV without (uneconomic) training of CB as well... |
) he'll be an awesome rider, enjoy him 
